A Black story
by SeeYouByTheRiverSide
Summary: Gabrielle Black, Sirius Black's daughter - shocker - is left in an orphanage. When she is eleven, she gets an unexpected guest, bringing her the news that she's, in fact, a witch. She leaves her life behind to go to Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry, where she befriends Fred and George Weasley. Starting two years before the Harry Potter books.
1. Chapter 1

_AN: I've had this idea on my mind for a long time now and I thought, why not give it a go? It's going to suck. And yes, I'll make some changes in the original Harry Potter story, just warning you. Please let me know if it's bad or not? Thank you! Ps: This is more of an introduction, there will be more hocus-pocus in the next chapter (if there'll be a next chapter)_

**A Black Story**

Chapter one : from orphan to witch

"What on earth are you two doing here, in the middle of the night?!" Madam Malkany yelled after she turned on the lights. However, she couldn't do more than make a hissing noise, so she wouldn't wake anyone up.

"W-We're sorry madam, we were just hungry and we didn't get the time to eat and-" 11-year-old Fletcher was cut of by a pointing finger and a nasty look from the old woman. "That's what you get when you skip dinner! It's your own fault. Tomorrow, you two can do the dishes and no buts!" She added when she saw Fletcher's mouth open in protest. He closed it again and continued to stare at his bare feet on the cold kitchen floor.

Madam Malkany looked some sort of satisfied and then said "Come on, get to bed and make sure I don't here of you anymore!" Stomping footsteps ran hastily up the wooden stairs and stopped in front of one of the doors.

"Thanks for letting me do the talking, again." He turned to her with his arms crossed and and accusing eyes. "That's what you're best at. Besides, without me we wouldn't have this." Gabrielle grinned as she pulled four of the leftover cookies from her pocket. Fletcher's eyes became wide at the sight of them and grinned as well.

"You never let me down, Gab." He said while he received two cookies and stuffed one into his mouth. They were chocolate and had a bit of a musty taste from laying there for so long, but they were still good.

She reached towards the door's handle and rolled her eyes "See ya later, Fletch." He saluted her and took off, towards the boys rooms. With careful footsteps she managed to reach her bed without waking up any of the five other girls. While quietly munching on one of the cookies, she stared at the ceiling.

It was covered with fake stars which shined in the dark, they were pink and green and yellow and blue and they always helped little Gabrielle Black to fall asleep.

xxx

"Wake up! It's seven o'clock, rise and shine girls!" Trudy, one of the other people who worked in the orphanage, opened the curtains and revealed an amount of light unhealthy for sleepy eyes. The next fifteen minutes were filled with the sound of groaning girls and running showers. Another five minutes later, they were all sat at a large table suited for twelve people.

Gabrielle and Fletcher, who sat next to each other, quietly ate their food while preparing themselves to do the gigantic amount of dishes for the second time this week. "Alright," Trudy said when they were all finished. "Rosanna and Max, it's your turn to do the dishes-" "No, Gabrielle and Fletcher are assigned for dishes today, Trudy." Madam Malkany cut her of and nudged them to start clearing the table.

"Oh, alright then. Why don't you all get dressed and maybe we can go to the park later on!" Trudy smiled as the children cheered. She was a middle aged woman, with kind eyes and overweight but an even fatter heart. Madam Malkany however, was old and grey. She was a slender woman with a stern posture and a habit of frightening children.

While Fletcher and Gabrielle were both clearing one side of the table, the other muttered things such as "What did you guys do now?" and got thankful looks from Rosanna and Max, whom they had saved from kitchen-duty.

Later, when Gabrielle was washing and Fletcher was drying, the doorbell rang. This may not seem so special, but it was in the orphanage. Whenever the doorbell unexpectedly rang, it could be an opportunity for adoption.

Surprised screams came from upstairs and were followed by dozens of hasty footsteps. Everybody gathered in front of the door. Gabrielle and Fletcher wanted to go there too, but Madam Malkany told them to stay where they are and finish their work. With disappointed faces they watched how Madam Malkany strode towards the door and how the other children nearly knocked each other over while straightening their hair and clothes.

When the door opened, it revealed a stern looking woman. Her grey hair was combed backwards into a bun, she wore a green robe and square glasses. Even Madam Malkany felt intimidated by her appearance. After a few seconds of mere silence Madam Malkany composed herself with a "Good morning, madam, what can I help you with?" and something that was supposed to be a smile.

"Good morning. I am looking for Gabrielle Black, I was informed that she lives in this residence?" Everybody started whispering and Fletcher's mouth hang open, Gabrielle even dropped a plate. It scattered across the floor and her cheeks became scarlet as she quickly bent down to pick up the pieces of porcelain. The woman took that as a sign that she was who she was looking for and stepped inside towards the girl, leaving a startled Madam Malkany.

"Hello, my name is Minerva McGonagall. I assume you are Gabrielle?" Minerva McGonagall said as she looked down on a slightly frightened Gabrielle Black. She came to her feet and nodded after quickly throwing the pieces of porcelain in the trash bin. Minerva McGonagall smiled and turned towards Madam Malkany.

"Excuse me, but is there anywhere she and I can talk in private? I have quite a few things to explain." Madam Malkany looked confused but nodded. "Up the stairs, first door on your right, madam." She instructed her towards the girls' room and McGonagall nodded. With a quick pace she went up the stairs, nudging Gabrielle to follow. It took a poke from Fletcher to get her into motion and she quickly ran up the stairs after the mysterious woman.

They sat down on two beds opposite from each other and Gabrielle couldn't help but stare at the woman, who started her explanation.

"Look Miss Black, I am here to inform you that you are accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Normally we would send you a letter by owl, but being and orphan amongst Muggles.. Well, let's just say that it's better for someone to explain it in person." Gabrielle heard a lot of words which she didn't understand. Hogwarts? Muggles? Letters by owl? _What is this, some kind of joke?_ She thought, but kept her mouth shut.

Minerva McGonagall continued. "I am well aware that it sounds rather strange, but you are, in fact, a witch. So am I, Miss Black, no need to worry. We aren't like the way the Muggles show us. Ow, yes, Muggles are people without magical abilities." She added when Gabrielle looked even more confused."You can call me Professor McGonagall. I teach Transfiguration at Hogwarts, but that's not for now. Students without money are able to buy their stuff for Hogwarts with our student loan. It is, of course, obvious that you will have to pay that back one day, once you are graduated and, hopefully, have a job. Do you believe me yet, Miss Black?"

Professor McGonagall saw the girl's expression of disbelief and the corners of her mouth went upwards. "Alright then, I already figured a demonstration might be necessary." She pulled out something - Gabrielle assumed it to be a wand - from her pocket and cleared her throat. "Accio pen." With a sweep of her wand a pen flew through the air and landed on the floor in between them. Gabrielle's mouth hung slightly open, "What just happened?" "Magic just happened, Miss Black. And if you don't believe me yet, maybe you should look again." This time, she pointed the wand at one of the pillows on the bed. "Engorgio." She muttered. A small flash of light appeared and the pillow started _growing_. When it reached its final size, the pillow was as big as the bed itself.

"Tell me, Gabrielle, have you ever done anything unexplainable? When you were angry or scared?" Gabrielle thought about it. There was this one time when she had fallen into a lake. She couldn't swim at the time, but just floated to the surface and lay there like a piece of wood until Trudy had come for the rescue. But that wasn't magic, was it? Had she truly done that? Professor McGonagall saw a hint of realization on Gabrielle's face and continued.

"Now, you have to go to Diagon Alley, London, you'll find everything you need out there. The only thing you have to do is to pack your things and come to King's Cross station on september first, that's when school starts. You can go back here - if you want to - during Christmas and Easter break and during the mandatory break in July and August. Here is everything you need to know." She handed a her a thick envelope and a small bag with a heavy content. By the sound of it, Gabrielle concluded it to be coins.

"I hope you won't have a hard time adapting to our lifestyle, Miss Black. And I know this is going to be difficult for you as it is now but there is something else I need to talk to you about." Professor McGonagall's facial expression became uneasy when she came to the hardest subject. "It is about your family. The Black family is one of the few old Pureblood families left. Pureblood meaning that they have as good as no Muggle relatives in their family, only wizards, so they think of themselves as 'Pureblooded'. Well, your father, Sirius Black, left you here before he was brought to Azkaban, a highly-guarded prison for witches and wizards."

She lost her words and the room became quiet. After a while Gabrielle asked "What happened?" Professor McGonagall once again continued. "He blew up a street, murdering twelve Muggles and a wizard in the process. Once they caught him, he kept on claiming that he hadn't done anything, that his friend had betrayed him. Dark times, I tell you. I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to figure out what that means for yourself." She couldn't quite process it. _Why would someone spontaneously blow up a street? There must have been a reason. Or maybe she was just trying to say that he had been mad, but didn't like to use the word?  
_

Professor McGonagall stared at the girl for a while as she tried to comprehend everything. She had long, black hair and grey eyes and looked like the spitting image of Sirius at that age. After hearing some strange noises downstairs, she stood up and walked to the door. "I'll discuss everything with the owner of this place as well, so you can go buy your equipment in Diagon Alley." She said as she met Gabrielle's gaze. She was still trying to understand all the information she just got and it would take a while too.

Minerva's expression softened as she said "You'll be alright. Everybody manages to adapt in the wizard world, just give it a little time." She shrunk the pillow back to its normal size and left, leaving her alone to process things.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two : first steps into the magical world 

A few days after Professor McGonagall's visit, Gabrielle failed to keep her mouth shut and told everything to Fletcher, who, surprisingly, had no problem believing her at all. He was even excited and thought it was strange that she wasn't. Gabrielle was more scared than excited to go to a mysterious boarding school to learn magic and to meet new people while apparently having a murderer-father and only a small amount of those weird coins McGonagall had given her. But Fletcher didn't seem to mind and would like to trade places any day, instead of going to the local public school.

Two weeks before school, Madam Malkany took Gabrielle to London and they followed the instructions Professor McGonagall had given them. It took an hour and a very stressed Malkany until they finally asked someone where it was. Luckily, that person had to be there too. Both of them were shocked to see that the street was larger and more crowded than they expected. Lots of families were doing their shopping for the approaching school year.

"I hope you've got enough of those things." Madam Malkany said while nudging her head towards the heavy sack of coins. She wasn't acting freaked out or anything and it made Gabrielle wonder how her talk with Professor McGonagall had gone.

After visiting various stores that Gabrielle found amazing and Madam Malkany found slightly disturbing, they still had to get a wand. At Ollivander's they were greeted by an old man with white hair and pale silver eyes. He looked scary at first, like a ghost, but had a gentle voice.

"So, Gabrielle Black? I've had lots of Blacks! I remember your father coming in for his wand. Mahogany, unicorn hair, twelve inches, if I'm not mistaken, a fine wand. Too bad, of course, for the damage it has caused. Come here, girl, let's find you a wand." After a lot of measurements - who seemed rather unnecessary - he took a box from one of the shelves and handed her the content.

"Just give it a sweep, go on." Ollivander said and before she even moved he took it from her and went to get another one. She and Madam Malkany shared a look. Three wands later they found the right one. "Dragon heartstring, oak, eleven inches, supple. An excellent choice. However, it chose you not the other way around." He smiled and although she didn't really know what that meant, she just smiled at him and he smiled back, seeming happy that she didn't ask him any questions.

Outside, Gabrielle looked at her list. They had everything, except for a pet but she wasn't sure if she should spend all the money - which she now knew as galleons - immediately. Wasn't this her supply for a whole year? She decided she didn't need a cat or a toad and they went back to the orphanage.

"I'll keep everything until school." Madam Malkany said, not wanting anymore chaos amongst the children, which caused Fletcher to be very disappointed.

xxx

"But can I please come to the station with her?" Fletcher pleaded but Madam Malkany wouldn't give in. Over three hours the Hogwarts Express would leave King's Cross, and they still needed some time to travel all the way to London. "No, Fletcher. You have school as well. You say your goodbyes now and do it quickly before we miss the damn train!" He had no intention of begging any further and turned to Gabrielle, who was struggling with a heavy trunk.

"How dare you leave me here on my own between all those idiots." She smiled at him and said "It won't be that bad, I'm sure you'll become very popular." Fletcher rolled his eyes and they hesitantly wrapped their arms around each other in some sort of a hug, which wasn't less awkward with the trunk stuck between them. "See you on Christmas, and not a day later!" He warned her and they let go of their embrace.

"See ya, Fletch." She yelled as she and Madam Malkany got in the taxi. He tried to keep up with the car but soon gave up and Gabrielle watched him disappear out of sight, wondering if she shouldn't just stay there. But it was too late now, there was no going back.

"So, do you know where to go?" Madam Malkany felt uneasy as they entered King's Cross. Not knowing where to go, Gabrielle clenched her fist around her train ticket. "Yeah, I'll be fine." "Good, because the taxi's still waiting outside and I'd like to get home as fast as possible. So if you wouldn't mind-""It's alright." She cut her of. "I'll find it." And that was all Madam Malkany needed to leave an eleven year old in a gigantic train station.

With clenched jaw and fist, Gabrielle started pushing her cart towards the platforms. She checked the train ticket, which said Platform 9 3/4. _What? How can there be a thing such as Platform 9 3/4?_ There were only platforms nine and ten, no platform 9 3/4. First she became nervous, then she started to panic. _Had this all been a joke? Was it Fletcher?_ She was stuck in London with nothing but some strange kind of money and a trunk full of 'magic' textbooks, _great_.

After a while, she gave up and leaned against the wall, watching the clock tick further. Fifteen minutes until departure. The people passing her didn't seem to notice as she watched them closely, looking for something that couldn't be explained. Looking for something like magic.

When there were only ten minutes left, Gabrielle thought she was going crazy after thinking she saw someone disappear into a wall and when it happened for a second time, she decided that she had no choice but to check it out.

The wall between Nine and Ten was rock solid, or, perhaps, looked rock solid. As she ran her fingertips over the stone wall she felt less surprised then she could have when her hand disappeared within the cement. Without second thought, she leaned her entire body forward and went straight through the wall.

First, darkness, then, another platform. A sign above her head said Platform 9 3/4. Children were running around, screaming and laughing; families were saying their goodbyes, some had to blink away a few tears. The panic from earlier faded away and relief took its place.

"Five minutes! Five minutes until departure!" A loud voice ran through the platform and lots of people started to push through the doors of the Hogwarts Express. Gabrielle got rid of her trunk quickly and followed them. As she got swallowed by the crowd, heads towering high above her, it was easy to push past people because she was so small. She was even lucky enough to find an empty compartment.

The train left the station and London behind and started its journey. The landscape soon changed from city to villages to meadows to forests and time passed slowly. Nearly an hour later a knock on the doors prevented Gabrielle from falling asleep.

At first she thought it wad diplopia causing her to see the same boy standing twice in the doorway, grinning like an idiot. But then she noticed the small differences in clothing and features. It wasn't one boy grinning like an idiot, it were two. They both had short-cut ginger hair, an impressive collection of freckles and were a lot taller than her.

Without bothering to ask, they entered the compartment, shut the door behind them and sat down; one next to her and one across from her, both staring with the same look on their faces. Gabrielle looked at them with one raised eyebrow before hesitantly saying hello.

"Hi!" They said in unison and smiled, not averting their eyes. After a few seconds of staring she asked "Can I help you?" Which probably sounded a bit rude, but they didn't seem offended by it. "Just wondering if we could sit here," The one next to her said. "Everywhere else is full." The other finished the sentence. "Yeah, sure." Gabrielle replied and found the boys rather strange. They looked at each other briefly before trying to start a conversation.

"I'm Fred Weasley and this is my brother George." The one across from her, now known as Fred Weasley, stuck out his hand. "Gabrielle Black." She introduced herself and shook it, but the boy's mouth had slightly dropped. "Ehm, something wrong?" She asked as she slowly drew back her hand, already knowing that there was something wrong. George Weasley answered.

"Wasn't your dad the psycho killer?" Gabrielle raised her eyebrows and looked offended, even though she wasn't. "Not in that way! I mean, didn't he, like, blow up a street or something?" George quickly added and she smiled at him. "I think so, but I was raised in an orphanage, so this magic stuff is all kinda new to me." Again they looked at each other but this time, they flashed a smile.

"Wicked." They both exclaimed. "So you don't know anything about the wizarding world? Gringotts? The Ministry of Magic? Quidditch?" Fred named a few things that she had never heard before. "Nope, and what on earth is a quidditch?" She asked and they both looked offended by her unknowingness.

"Quidditch is a wizard sport, very popular. It's a game with four balls. There's a Quaffle, the big one, two smaller Bludgers and a Golden Snitch. It's played on broomsticks and with two teams of seven people. Three Chasers, who try to score with the Quaffle into one of the opposing team's three goals. Two Beaters, who keep the Bludgers away from their own team." -"We make some fair Beaters." Fred announces with a wink. "A Keeper, who guards the goals and a Seeker, who has to catch the Golden Snitch in order for the game to end." George's brief explanation of the game sounds too complicated to understand after only hearing it once.

"I didn't get any of that." She concluded and stared at George. "It's a bit complicated, do you know about the Houses?" When she shook her head Fred continued. "There are four Hogwarts Houses. Gryffindor, the brave. Ravenclaw, the dorks. Hufflepuff, the losers. And Slytherin, the assholes." George grinned. "Our older brothers are all in Gryffindor, we intend to get there too."

"How many brothers do you have?" Gabrielle asked, interested in wizard-families. "Four, and a sister. Bill graduated from Hogwarts last year, Charlie's a sixth year and Percy's a third year and an ass. Ickle Ronniekins and Ginny still have a couple of years to go before they arrive at Hogwarts." She snorted. "Ickle Ronniekins?" "Yeah, he's our favorite." George grinned and Fred started to explain the rules of Quidditch again, but this time slower so she was able to keep up. The three of them soon got to other subjects and the wizarding world slowly revealed itself to her.

Outside, the sun had started to set and the landscape looked green and wild. The small villages and industrial zones were long gone and made place for forests, hills and rivers. When the trolley arrived, Gabrielle bought a Chocolate Frog - a request from the Weasley twins - and they found her shock very amusing as the frog jumped out of the package. She grabbed the frog tightly and looked disgusted.

"Why is this alive?" Was her first question. "Because that's what makes it fun." George replied through laughing fits. "Can I still eat it?" Fred nodded, unable to stop his giggling and she was happy to taste the chocolate in her mouth, not something else. "So is every kind of magical food alive and does it walk around or not?" Gabrielle asked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

George smiled, "I think it's only the frogs, but I'd watch out if I were you, never know what you're going to get." Gabrielle smiled back and turned to Fred. "Could you stop that annoying giggling?" She asked, which only made his strange giggles louder. "Nice try, it goes on for hours." George said with a grin.

A voice suddenly announced that they would arrive in Hogsmeade within fifteen minutes, wherever that was, and Fred and George left the compartment for her to change in her Hogwarts robes. Five minutes later they returned, also dressed up, but in a less new version of the robes.

"Ready to go?" They asked - again, in unison, - and the three of them left the compartment for good. Outside the train, students were talking loudly and pushing past each other. "Firstyears! Firstyears this way towards the boats!" A deep voice said from behind them.

"Woah." Was all Fred could say as he laid eyes on the half-giant who nudged them to follow him. They and a group of other first years were led away from the others, towards a group of boats on the shore of a lake. Behind the lake lay a huge castle with several big and smaller towers. It had everyone staring until someone started to gently push them into the boats.

"I know, I know. It's something isn' it? The name's Hagrid by the way, I'm the the official gamekeeper of Hogwarts. Now make groups of three or four and get in a boat. Make sure yer don't fall in the water, eh!" He said that last bit a bit too late because seconds later a drenched boy climbed up the shore with much difficulty. Hagrid sighed, as if this happened every year, and climbed into a boat reserved only for himself.

Once in the boats, Gabrielle nudged Fred with her elbow. "Ouch!" He exclaimed jokingly. "I was just wondering, how do you get into one of those Houses?" Fred grinned mischievously and saw an opportunity to prank her, but she saw it too and warned him. "I swear to god if you joke about this I will kill you."

George laughed behind them. "Looks like she already knows you, Fred." "Okay, okay, Bill said that it's like some sort of hat which you place on your head and it'll start talking and-" Gabrielle shoved his arm. "I told you not to joke about this!" Fred quickly retorted "I'm serious, that's what he said!"

"Sure, and next after that we'll have to fight a giant sea monster that lives in this lake." She said sarcastically. "Not really no, but I've heard that there lives a Giant Squid in the lake." George said casually from behind. "He's got to be kidding. Tell me he's kidding." They laughed and patted her on the back, making her feel even more distressed.

xxx

"So when I call your name, you will step forward and we will sort you." Professor McGonagall said. The first name on the list was Abigail Argent, a small girl with two ponytails stepped forward and took her place on the chair. An old hat was put on her head and fell over her eyes, Fred muttered "Told you so." towards Gabrielle, who just rolled her eyes because she couldn't find a good thing to say to him.

She was too nervous about which House she was going to be in. As Fred and George said, Gryffindor sounded pretty good. Ravenclaw didn't seem that bad but she worried if she was smart enough. A minute later Abigail was sorted into a Hufflepuff and one of the tables burst into applause.

To Gabrielle's misfortune, her name was next on the list. "Black, Gabrielle." Professor McGonagall called out. The Hall remained silent for a while and then burst into a loud whispering. Gabrielle was starting to feel nauseous. She got a small push from Fred and walked towards the chair and the hat. She was happy that the hat covered her eyes, it was better than seeing all those faces looking at her.

A voice started mumbling. _Hmm, another Black? I've had lots of Blacks. Perhaps in Slytherin, like the rest of them? _Slytherin didn't sound very nice. _Or Ravenclaw? Never had a Black in Ravenclaw.. _It kept on muttering and Gabrielle, wishing it would hurry up a bit, gripped the end of the chair tightly. Eventually the hat called out "Gryffindor!" And, to her relief, the same applause came for her. After shaking a few hands she sat down, glad that it was over.

Another girl, Angelina Johnson, was also sorted into Gryffindor and sat next to her. They shared a relieved smile and turned towards the remaining students. One sorted in Slytherin, a Gryffindor, another Slytherin, two Hufflepuffs, a Ravenclaw, after that Gabrielle lost count and didn't make any efforts to gain it back. She was hungry and tired, her was head filled with too much new information. The Weasley twins were soon sorted into Gryffindor as well and after the last students were sorted, an old man with a white beard stood up, making the hall go silent.

"Hello, and welcome, to our new students as to our old ones. Mister Filch has asked me, once again, to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is off limits for students. Now, I won't delay you any longer. Let the feast begin!" Albus Dumbledore smiled as food of all kinds appeared on the tables. Loud conversations filled the air and Gabrielle couldn't help but to stare at the ceiling. High above the candles lay the night sky with stars and no clouds to block them.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" A voice between her and Angelina said as Angelina yelped in surprise. The ghost laughed to see their discomfort and floated away, through the table. "What- I mean who, was that?" Gabrielle asked as she watched the ghost leave. "Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, the Gryffindor ghost, but everybody knows him as Nearly Headless Nick." The older student next to George explained.

"This is our brother," George said. "Charlie, the_ quidditch team captain_." Fred wiggled his eyebrows and Charlie reached past George to give him a shove. "Percy's already denying your existence, if you hadn't noticed." He said while nodding his head towards a boy who sat at the end of the table, he had glasses and a proud posture.

"We won't be that easy to ignore, brother dear." George grinned whilst looking at Fred. Charlie ran a hand through his ginger hair and sighed. "Don't taunt him too much, or do you _want_ trouble with mum?" They shrugged and turned back to their food. Charlie let go of the subject and turned back to his friends.

When everyone had finished their meal and was fully satisfied, the Prefects led the first years to the Gryffindor common room, a cosy space covered in red and gold, and almost everyone was too tired to stay up any later. Gabrielle tried to ignore some of the looks she was getting, she had been prepared for this, sort of, and most people were really nice.

She shared a room with Angelina and two other girls and they all agreed that they'd go to sleep. The beds were nice and warm, no one snored, moonlight brightened the room. Eventually Gabrielle fell asleep with one last thought, the thought that when she'd wake up, this would all have been a dream.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 : Hogwarts

High-pitched, girlish giggles woke her up. It sounded like the girls back at the orphanage, and for a moment Gabrielle thought that the events of yesterday had never occurred. But that didn't take long. Because when she opened her eyes, she didn't see a bunch of squealing girls, she saw a face separated from hers only by a few inches. At first she was a bit surprised, but didn't pull away. Angelina Johnson frowned at her. "How did you not just piss your pants? I did this to my big brother once and he pissed his pants." Gabrielle grinned. "I grew up with eleven other kids in one house, not much left to scare me." Angelina looked disappointed and pulled away, Gabrielle shook her head and started to get ready for her first classes. Alicia and Jane - their other roommates - had already gone towards the Great Hall for breakfast.

"I'm making a promise to myself that one day I will manage to scare you, even if it's the last thing I'll do." Angelina said determinedly as Gabrielle came out of the bathroom. Gabrielle laughed. "Okay, whatever you say." "I'm serious!" Angelina exclaimed, but even she didn't seem convinced. They talked about Quidditch on the way towards the Great Hall, which Angelina loved to talk about. She explained the rules again and after hearing it three times it got stuck in your head. Although it didn't seem easy to actually play the game, the rules were pretty simple.

"Miss Johnson, Miss Black, here are your class schedules, your first class will be with me." Professor McGonagall handed them two sheets of paper as they sat down at the Gryffindor table. They were both excited and anxious for their first day of school, even Angelina, who came from an all-wizard-family. While they were eating Fred and George joined them together with another Gryffindor, Lee Jordan. Fred and George started whining that they wanted to see more of the castle. Apparently the castle was full of secret passages and rooms. "Someone should map this place." Gabrielle noted.

As everyone was talking and laughing, she noticed a few heads turning at the Slytherin table. She met eyes with Isaac, a Slytherin in the same year as her, who whispered something to the person sitting next to him and soon multiple heads turned in her direction. It made her feel very uncomfortable. The others, however, didn't seem to notice them and merrily continued their conversation. "Oi, we should go, wouldn't want to miss our first class." George finally said and they exited the Great Hall. Even though they were now floors apart from the Slytherins, Gabrielle still felt oddly aware of the eyes stinging in her back.

Transfiguration seemed to be a hard subject, Professor McGonagall was a good teacher yet very strict. It was mostly an introduction to the class, not a lot of magic involved. Soon after that came Potions, with Professor Snape, and there was only one word to describe how that went. _Horrendous_. Professor Snape seemed to favour the Slytherins and absolutely despised Gabrielle. When she first entered the classroom, she had been taken off guard with questions about things she'd never heard of. She shot Angelina a questioning look, who didn't seem to understand it either. So she tried to keep quiet for the rest of the class, although Snape would ask her questions repeatedly. Once Potions had ended, Fred and George approached Angelina and her after class.

"Woah, he really hates your guts, doesn't he?" Fred said with the necessary amusement in his voice. Gabrielle frowned, "I wouldn't know why, I've never even met him." She looked at Snape, who was writing something down on a sheet of paper. Suddenly, he looked up and met her eyes. His cold eyes looked almost disgusted, but didn't turn away. "Don't you have a class to attend to?" His voice always sounded monotonous. "Well? You're already late. Five points from Gryffindor." George protested loudly, "But, sir-" "Get out of my sight, Weasley! Or I'll make it ten!" He cut him off, raising his voice as he did so. They left the dungeons with hasty footsteps and arrived at Charms eleven minutes late, but Professor Flitwick didn't seen to mind.

The rest of the day went by quickly, but Gabrielle was unable to stop thinking about the unexplainable hatred coming from Professor Snape. Angelina kept on talking about the different Quidditch teams and strategies and about how she would teach her Quidditch someday. "Sure thing," Gabrielle chuckled, "I bet I can't even stay on a broom for more than ten seconds." The thought about flying lessons within two weeks made her feel excited and nausious at the same time. "Too bad first years can't join the Quidditch team, that's such a dumb rule. I would wipe the floor with those suckers." Angelina said confidently and Gabrielle laughed, "Now _that's_ something I'd like to watch."

xxx

Gabrielle woke up by the sound of something metal hitting the floor in the common room. It was only two in the morning, nobody would still be there and make this much noise. When nobody else woke up, she grabbed a grey sweater and put it on over her pajamas as she quietly tiptoed to the common room. When she peeked around the corner, she saw Fred and George, unsuccessfully trying to get a suit of armor back into place.

"What are you two doing?" She asked, stepping into the common room. Her voice had startled them so much that the armour slipped through their fingers again. They stood there with a painful expression until the echoing stopped. When everything remained silent, Fred raised his eyebrows at her. "A little help would be nice." He hissed and Gabrielle sighed as she came over to help them.

"Why the hell are you still up this late?" She asked when the suit was back in one piece. She thought about asking who dropped the armor in the first place, but decided that she actually didn't care. "We're going to explore the castle, you're free to join if you like." George replied. She scoffed. "Yeah, right, and watch you two drop things every five seconds until Filch shows up? I think I'll pass." "Fine. Then you won't get to participate in our brilliant plan." She had already turned around to head back towards the dormitories, but stopped out of curiosity.

"What plan?" "A plan for a prank." He pronounced every word slowly and separately, drawing her attention. Gabrielle loved pranks, she used to do it all the time with Fletcher. But those were nonmagical jokes, could there be much difference? "I'm in." She concluded and turned to see George sighing while searching the pocket of his pajamas. He handed Fred a galleon, who had a smug look on his face as he accepted it. "Did you just bet if I'd come with you guys? When?"

"This morning." George grunted, still bummed out because of the loss of his money. Fred, on the other hand, looked very cheerful "Come on, ladies, we haven't got all night!" He pulled them out of the common room with him and together they strolled through the castle. The halls were never actually abandoned, not even at night. There were always the paintings, the ghosts, Filch with Mrs Norris, the Prefects doing their rounds, teachers, and sometimes, three eleven-year-olds looking for adventure.

They stopped in front of the Defense Against The Dark Arts classroom, taught by Professor Murray. A chubby woman in her mid-forties with a loud, barking voice. Nobody really liked her and it was best to sit in the back during her lessons, because she might get you problems with your hearing. "What do you plan on doing here?" Gabrielle asked with a hushed voice, a painting of an old man with his cat snored few feet away. "We'll tell you once we're inside." George responded and reached for the door. Then he screamed.

"Oh! What's this? Ickle firstyears, in the hallway? Past curfew?!" Peeves the Poltergeist flew through the door and obviously didn't make any effort to be quiet. George put his hand to his chest, recovering from the shock, while Peeves continued. "I'm afraid I'll have to report this.." For a moment he sounded as if he truly felt bad about it, but his devilish grin returned once he looked at them. "Any last words, my little musketeers?" Fred was about to open his mouth but apparently that had been a rhetorical question.

"MISTER FILCH! MISTER FILCH! _MISTER_ _FIIIILCH_! STUDENTS IN THE HALLS! STUDENTS NEARBY THE DADA CLASSROOM!" Without second thought, they decided to run for it. Filch's hasty footsteps turned around the corner when they had reached the other end of the corridor. They ran and ran, Filch's panting behind them, until they came by a dead end. The only thing there was a statue, but that didn't help very much. "We. Are. Totally. Screwed." George said through his heavy breathing. Fred leaned against the statue in surrender.

He gasped. "Wait a minute!" He moved the statue to the side, revealing a narrow tunnel. Fred and George hurried inside, but Gabrielle grimaced. "That doesn't look very pleasant." She didn't like small spaces, especially not with more people in it. But they didn't seem to care and both grabbed one of her arms to pull her inside. I was cold and small and silent. She felt as if she was stuck in an overfull pickle jar, slowly suffocating by the lack of oxygen. Trying to control her breathing, she focused on Filch's footsteps. He was walking around, searching for them. They furiously hoped he didn't knew about the existence of the secret passage.

Which apparently he didn't, because minutes later he left, muttering grumpily about Peeves. When he was completely out of hearing-distance, they released their breaths and practically fell out from behind the statue. "Woah," Fred patted the statue's head, "Thanks, Greg, we never doubted you for a moment." "Greg?" She managed to bring out, still out of breath. "Statue of Gregory the Smarmy, good to know there's a hidden passage behind it. I wonder where it goes." George looked at the statue and then at Fred. They didn't notice their struggling friend.

"We could go tomorrow?" Fred suggested and George nodded. They turned to Gabrielle. "So?" They asked simultaneously. "So, what?" "Will you come with us?" She took a few more deep breaths, calming herself down. "Come with you, to see where the passage goes?" Fred nodded, "Yeah, it gets bigger and there are some stairs, but I didn't See very well." Honestly, she'd prefer jumping of the Astronomy Tower than to go back in that bloody tunnel. But didn't want them to think she was afraid or anything. George raised and eyebrow, "And?" And then, thinking she was probably making the biggest mistake of her life, she agreed.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four : The secret Passage

They didn't have any problems getting back to Gryffindor tower. Peeves and Filch were nowhere to be found and they encountered no one else along the way, except a few grumpy paintings. Gabrielle was back in her dormitory by 3:30 am and fell asleep almost immediately. The next morning she made sure she was up first to have more bathroom time - an old orphanage habit.

She had slept for barely four hours and tried to bring some life in her face by washing it with ice cold water. It was weird to think that this was only their third day here at Hogwarts, it felt as if she'd been here her entire life. And frankly, she didn't miss her old home that much. At first she had felt guilty about leaving, but Fletcher was probably making lots of friends at his new school, it wasn't like anybody actually needed her there. Besides, if he had gotten such a chance, he would have taken it too.

Breakfast went by the same as yesterday. Sitting with Angelina, Fred, George and Lee Jordan, talking about Quidditch and dungbombs - whatever that may be, some looks and whispering. She was starting to get used to it already. She had also noticed that her other two roommates, Alicia and Jane, were subtly trying to avoid her. Although it's only the third day, they had never had a conversation and she barely saw them. Not to mention that every time she entered the dormitories, they had left with an excuse about going to the library or something.

Fred and George didn't tell anyone about last night, so Gabrielle took that as a sign that she should shut up too. They would go there again tonight, to see where it goes.

"What class do we start with?" She asked, to no one in particular.

"Potions, and then Charms."

She groaned and dropped her head on the table at the thought of another Potions lesson. One lesson had been enough.

George chuckled, "C'mon, sit with me in the back and just keep your head down."

She gave him a grateful look and grabbed another piece of toast. Suddenly she realized something.

"I forgot my bloody Potions book, be right back." She left the table and made her way back to Gryffindor tower. On the way back, her path crossed with some Slytherins.

She hoped they would just keep on walking, but apparently they didn't. They stopped and blocked the hallway, there was nobody else in sight. They were with four, most of them first years, and they all had a smug look on their face.

"Ehm," she said after a while, when nobody said anything. They still didn't do anything but stand there, blocking the way. Gabrielle frowned as she pushed her way through them.

"So, a Black? Most of the remaining Blacks are in Azkaban." Isaac, the cocky first year, noted.

"Including your dad, right? Sirius Black, the lunatic who blew up those Muggles?" A girl, Mariah, added. Before Gabrielle could respond to any of it, Isaac took the word again.

"Well, let's not blame him for that. I mean, who wouldn't want to blow up some of those filthy Muggles?"

With that, Gabrielle pointed her wand at him. She had heard from Fred and George that some people might think that Muggles or Muggleborns are below their Pureblood level, but that didn't mean she couldn't do anything about it.

For a moment Isaac looked shocked and stepped back, not expecting the reaction. But then he realized the same thing as her, she didn't know any spells. He laughed mockingly.

"What are you gonna do with that, huh? It's not like you know any spells."

The others laughed with him, her face flushed a bit but she didn't pull her wand away. "I don't need magic, I can still poke your eye out with this, it's not completely useless." He stopped laughing, took a step closer and met her eyes.

"You wouldn't dare." She felt intimidated by him, but it would be stupid to run away now, no matter how much she wanted to. Smiling, she stepped forward as well, standing right in front of him, wand to his chest. He was almost a head bigger than her, but that didn't matter.

"Try me."

Another girl started tugging his sleeve. "C'mon, Isaac, leave the psycho."

After a while he took a step back and strode out of the corridor without saying anything, the others soon following. Gabrielle put her wand away and continued her way to the Great Hall, where the rest were still waiting for her impatiently.

"What took you so long? Potions is about to start!"

They hurried down the stairs to the dungeons. "Had a talk with a few Slytherins along the way." She explained.

"Really?" Angelina asked as they reached the classroom.

"Yeah, but I'll tell you later."

They were still on time, most of the students were already there, but Snape wasn't. He arrived a few minutes later with Isaac and his gang. Gabrielle lowered her head in the back next to George.

"This will be your first real Potions lesson. Work in pairs, take your books page 6 and brew the given potion. You have one hour, good luck." He didn't sound very sincere with the last bit, but Gabrielle was happy that he hadn't called out on her yet.

"Cure for boils." George read aloud.

"I'll go get the ingredients, you set up the cauldron?" She nodded. When he came back, he had all kinds of weird stuff in his hands. He threw them on the desk and read the first instruction.

"Add six snake fangs to the mortar."

Gabrielle honestly had no idea what they were doing, and neither did George. They just followed the instructions as precisely as possible. When the hour was over, Professor Snape came by every pair to see the result. Lee and Fred had somehow managed to set their potion on fire and were laughing as they put it out. Snape, however, didn't seem to find it so amusing.

"Well, Mister Weasley and Mister Jordan, if you like to joke around, perhaps I should let you joke around in detention?" Their smiles disappeared, but they didn't answer.

"Aha, nothing to say? Good. Five points from Gryffindor and don't make that happen again."

He walked on and muttered comments such as "Awful." And "Good to see you're trying to find your talents, Miss Johnson. Potions is not one of them." Eventually he reached the back of the class and observed Gabrielle and George's potion closely. He muttered something inaudible and strode back to the front of the class.

"Pack your things, you may go now."

George and Gabrielle shared a satisfied look. If Snape had found something bad about the potion, he would've pointed it out in front of the class. Maybe some extra Gryffindor points would've been nice. This time, they arrived on time for Charms. Professor Flitwick climbed on his stack of books and cleared his throat.

"Alright, class, today we're going to learn a new spell. Allow me to demonstrate."

He grabbed his wand and pointed it at one of the books on his desk. "Wingardium Leviosa." The book lifted from the desk and rose al the way to the ceiling, then dropped itself on the desk nicely. "Now, remember, speak clearly and don't forget to make a nice sweep!" He demonstrated the wand sweep again and they copied him, without using magic. Seconds later the entire class was filled with loud Wingardium Leviosa's, but nobody managed to lift the feather yet.

"Wingardium Loviosa!" Fred tried to lift the feather, without success.

"You try."

Gabrielle cleared her throat, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The feather didn't move, but Fred swore he saw it quiver a bit. It was only until fifteen minutes later, the first feather raised from its desk. Angelina looked satisfied as Professor Flitwick praised her good work with five points for Gryffindor, making up for their loss during Potions. By the end of the lesson, most students had managed to do the spell. Next time they'd try with a heavier object.

"Now, what happened with those Slytherins?" Angelina asked as they walked to their next class together.

"Well, it's not that special. Just four Slytherins who blocked my way until I pointed my wand at them." Angelina gave her an odd look.

"Do you even know any spells?"

"Well, no. But I told them that I'd poke his eye out. It seemed to work, because they left afterwards." She looked impressed.

"So, you point your wand at four Slytherins, not knowing any spells and you still manage to look cool while doing it? You're my hero!"

Gabrielle laughed, "About that, I think I want to learn some useful spells, just in case." "Yeah, we could go to the library and see if they got any books on hexes?" Angelina suggested, up for the idea.

"Okay, but not today, I didn't sleep much."_ And won't sleep much tonight,_ she thought. _Why did I agree with them? _Going back into that narrow tunnel made her feel sick.

By the end of the day, she had trouble focussing on the conversations of her friends. All she wanted was to go to bed, but that wasn't an option. When she tried to cancel on Fred and George, they had started whining until she changed her mind and had promised to come. They seemed as cheerful as ever, not effected by any lack of sleep. So, as promised, they waited until everyone went to bed and the common room was empty. In the meantime, Gabrielle finished reading chapters one and two in The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection for tomorrow's DADA class.

It was about one o'clock when everybody had gone to bed. Fred stood up, "Okay, you guys ready?" George nodded and she yawned in response.

The halls were dark and cold. Loud snores came from the paintings and those who woke up looked at them and scoffed. Nobody really knew where the statue was, so they decided to follow their own footsteps. Starting by the Defense Against The Dark Arts classroom, all the way to the fifth floor. They moved the statue and looked at the dark tunnel.

"Lumos." Gabrielle muttered the spell they had learned in class yesterday, the tip of her wand illuminated and she pointed it at the tunnel. Fred and George did the same. It did become wider and the ceiling became higher, but it also went deeper into the ground.

"C'mon." George said and he went in first. Fred grinned at her and went in second. She took some deep breaths and followed. There were lots of stairs and the place smelled like dirt and fungus, making it harder for her to focus on her breathing instead of the stone walls trying to suffocate them. After a five minute walk, the stairs stopped and the tunnel went on. They didn't say anything until there were another set of staircases in front of them. Fred pointed his wand above his head and the ending of the tunnel was visible after a few dozen steps.

Eager to get out, Gabrielle went up the stairs first and lead them to the end of the tunnel. Above them, there was some sort of hole in the ceiling, covered by a wooden board. "Help me here?" She asked. They helped her up high enough to push it away and crawl out of the tunnel. Fresh air filled her lungs and cleared her head. She looked around and saw lots of trees and bushes.

"I think this is the Forbidden Forest." She said as she helped Fred out of the tunnel as well. After George had both his feet on the ground, too, they started to walk around a bit.

"So, an all-time available passage in and out Hogwarts?" Fred asked, leaning against a tree.

"Yup, I wonder how many people know of it." George replied as he examined their surroundings. Gabrielle shrugged, "Probably not a lot, or else Filch would've checked it last night."

Fred looked around, "Wasn't the Forbidden Forest supposed to be dangerous and scary?" He asked, not impressed. It wasn't that bad actually, only the darkness made the place feel cold and unpleasant.

"Not much to see here, can we go back now?" Gabrielle asked after a while, tiredness hitting her again. The past days had been too long and too eventful, no other first year had done this much after only three days at Hogwarts. The way back seemed to go quicker than the way there, Gabrielle also felt less suffocated by the narrowness of the tunnel. Soon they were back at Hogwarts, nobody in sight.

"Oi, have you read that chapter due tomorrow?" Fred suddenly asked Gabrielle. "For DADA? Yeah."

"Can you give us a short explanation on what it's about?" George asked, a hopeful look in his eyes. She scoffed, "This is literally our first homework assignment and you're already to lazy to read it?"

Fred looked fake-offended, "Just give us the bloody summary!"

"Okay, okay, it's about Doxies. Weird little biting elf thingies-"

"Didn't we have a Doxy-infestation few years back?" Fred asked George. "Yeah, mum went nuts." He replied.

She gave an exaggerated sigh, regaining their attention, and continued. "So yeah, they bite, as you might already know. Often mistaken with Fairies, therefor the nickname Biting Fairy." They nodded and turned around the corner. "Anything else?"

"Not really, no." She tried to remember the chapter. "Removing them requires a good supply of-"

"Doxycide?" Another voice joined the conversation.

They jumped and turned around to see Filch, holding Mrs Norris. "Well, well, well, first years? You must be the same from yesterday!" Not giving them the chance to say anything, he went on. "You come with me. What House?"

George gulped, "Gryffindor."

Filch's smile became wider. "Ooh! I can't wait for Professor McGonagall to ship you back home!" Laughing evilly, he nudged them to follow him. He lead them to his office, a small room with too much stuff in it.

"Stay here, and wait until I get back. And don't you dare touch a thing!" He commanded and left with hasty footsteps.

Gabrielle sat down in a chair, her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. Fred and George, however, were doing something entirely different. "What in the world are you doing?" She asked. They were searching the drawers of the old desk which was shoved to against the wall.

"Searching. Oi, this one's locked." They started to violently shake the desk, giving Gabrielle a headache.

"Could you stop that?" She hissed.

"Not before this thing opens." Groaning, she stood up and walked over, drawing her wand. "Alohomora." She muttered and the drawer flew open. Fred gave her a look, "Where did you learn to do that?" She shrugged, "I read ahead in our Charms textbook."

George then pulled a piece of parchment from the drawer. "What's this?"

Fred looked at it lazily. "I don't know, a piece of parchment, maybe?" "But why keep it in a locked drawer?" George retorted, but didn't get an answer because of the approaching footsteps in the hallway. He quickly stuffed it in his pocket and they spread over the room, trying to not look suspicious. McGonagall appeared in the doorway, looking rather moody.

"I found them on the fifth floor, Professor." Filch explained with a smug look on his face. "You three, off to bed. We'll deal with this in the morning." She said sternly. Filch looked disappointed. "Thank you Mister Filch." She thanked him and angrily nudged them to go. They ran back to Gryffindor tower and said a quick goodbye before going to their separate rooms. Finally, she could get some sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five : The friendly Hufflepuff

Time passed quickly, hours became days and days became weeks. The last bits of summer had disappeared and a new, colorful sense of autumn had set over the everlasting landscape surrounding Hogwarts castle. McGonagall had given them detention for a week - making them the first firstyears ever to achieve such an accomplishment that early within a school year.

Fred, George and Gabrielle had already made the start of a long lasting friendship, being inseparable by now. The amount of homework had also increased quite a bit, causing lots of firstyears to constantly whine about it to their superior students, who, in turn, envied their eleven-year-old companions with their easy amount of subject material.

Gabrielle had found it necessary to become familiar with some of the crucial points in the magical history, and so it was that she walked into the library for the first time on a rainy saturday. There weren't many students who voluntarily spent their saturday afternoon in the dusty old library, mostly Ravenclaws. Grabbing some books on recent wizard history, she sat down at a table occupied by one young familiar looking Hufflepuff. The boy didn't look up from the piece of parchment he was writing on and Gabrielle didn't want to disturb him, so she took a seat at the other end of the table.

Flipping through the first book, she stopped at a chapter about Dumbledore. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. _Nice name_, she muttered to herself. '_Discovered the twelve uses of dragon's blood.' 'Famous alchemist who worked with Nicholas Flamel, the only known maker of the Philosophers Stone.' _The chapter was filled with words she didn't understand, although it wasn't like she put any effort into it. She sighed and closed the book with a loud thud, which made the Hufflepuff frown as he kept on writing.

As she started on a randomly chosen page in one of the other books, the boy looked up from his essay, looked at the stack of history book beside her and smiled. "Muggleborn?" He asked. Without any arrogance in his voice, he just asked it as a reasonable question.

"Not really, no." She replied, shaking her head. His smile was still there though, a brilliant smile which flashed his white teeth.

"I'm Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff firstyear, nice to meet you." He stretched out his hand, which she shook, feeling a bit awkward. She then realized they had Herbology and DADA together, therefor his familiarity.

"Gabrielle Black, firstyear, Gryffindor." A look of recognition crossed his face.

"God, of course you are!" He exclaimed, not realizing he was making her feel uneasy. "Is it true you grew up in an orphanage?" He asked curiously, looking her in the eye with an eager expression. She had hoped furiously not to be the topic of conversations between anyone, which had clearly been pointless.

"Yeah, that's why I'm trying to catch up on some stuff." She nudged her head towards Bathilda Bagshot's _A History Of Magic. _Henodded understandingly, "I'm writing a Potions essay. It is so bad, if Snape sees this he's gonna cry." Gabrielle snorted, "More like burn the bloody paper. The man's got issues."

He laughed and moved his stuff to the seat across from her, making a lot of noise while doing so. Madam Pince, the librarian, shushed him from her desk. "I think we can help each other out here. You help me write this essay and I tell you everything you need to know, deal?"

She didn't know wether it was his charming smile, or the charisma in his voice, that made her agree to it. He had the same essay on bezoars as her, but for Gryffindor it had been due last week. Apparently they weren't the most horrid class after all.

After about half an hour they were done correcting his mistakes, or practically rewriting his entire essay, the result looked better than her own essay. "Okay, where should I begin, ehm.." He ehm'd for a remarkably long time until he finally found a good subject.

"Ever heard of Harry Potter?" Gabrielle shook her head. "Well, he's one of the most famous wizards of all time, my dad used to tell me stories about him. He defeated YouKnowWho when he was just a babe and-"

"Wait, YouKnowWhat?" She interrupted him, grimacing.

"Oh, god, of course, you don't know! YouKnowWho was one of the greatest evil wizards of the past century. He tried to create an army, his Death Eaters, to rid the magic world of all Muggles and Muggleborns. And then, one night, he came after Harry's parents - who he murdered - and he tried to kill Harry, too. But he couldn't, Harry survived and YouKnowWho vanished, disappeared. Most say he died, but some claim him to be alive still." He spoke fast, a look of excitement on his face, and by the last sentence he made his voice all low and spooky. She didn't get it.

"But why YouKnowWho? Doesn't he have a name?"

"Yes, of course, but you shouldn't say it out loud. Bad luck, people say." Cedric shrugged and started packing his things, dinner would soon arrive in the Great Hall. She placed the books back in their rightful place, under the pressing eye of Madam Pince, and they walked towards dinner together.

"Guess I'll see you later, Gabrielle Black." He smiled and waved as he set off for the Hufflepuff table, where he was greeted with lots of noise.

She found Lee Jordan sitting by himself, probably waiting for the others, while he scooped mashed potatoes onto his plate. "Hey! Where have you been at all day?" He asked as she sat down across from him. "Library, met a Hufflepuff."

"Library? Hufflepuffs? That's not the life you want to live, Black." He joked as he fetched himself some tomatoes. She laughed, "Wasn't that bad, actually. What have you done all day?" Fred popped up on her right, "Nothing, he was just swooning over Angelina." Lee's face flashed scarlet.

"I do not swoon, Weasley."

"Sure you don't. I saw you staring at her in the common room." George joined the conversation as well. They squashed Gabrielle in between them and helped themselves towards some sandwiches. Lee attempted to change the subject, "Did you know that she spent the entire afternoon in the library with Hufflepuffs?" They now turned their attention to her.

"Hufflepuff, as in singular form. And it's not like going to the library is a crime." George scoffed, "Not if you're a nerd." She elbowed him hard in the ribs and Angelina joined them. "Ooh, did I miss a fight?" A disappointed look spread on her face as she looked at George, who clasped his side. "Not really, but we were just talking about you." Fred explained, causing her to raise her eyebrows in surprise.

"Do I wanna know?"

Lee quickly said: "No, you don't-"

"-Yes, you do." Fred gave him a sweet smile as he protested.

"What's going on?" Angelina questioned, an alerted expression in her eyes. "Can I tell her?" George asked Lee, to which Lee sternly replied with "No, you can't." Fred jumped in as well.

"Maybe if I could just tell her that you-"

"Both of you shut it!" Lee snapped and gave Angelina an apologetic look. She looked confused and somewhat scared. When everybody remained silent, the look on Lee's face turned into a victorious one. "Thank you." He said and George snorted loudly. Gabrielle then took the word and turned to Angelina.

"So, Lee likes you."

Lots of protests came from Lee's mouth and Fred and George jumped in, too. Their conversation became so loud that several students from other tables shushed them. Afterwards, Gabrielle and Angelina headed towards the common room together. She tried to tease Angelina about Lee, but she just laughed it off and threw a pillow in her face.

As usual, there was no sign of Alicia and Jane. They still didn't seem to trust her, even after living together for about a month now. It also didn't bother her as much as it used to. They entered the dormitory around ten o'clock.

Alicia turned towards her, a rarity. "George asks if you want to come to the common room- just you." She added while looking at Angelina, who was about to stand up. "Ehm, okay. Thanks, Alicia." Alicia nodded and went back to the common room with Jane, leaving them a bit puzzled. "Be right back." Gabrielle said as she closed the door behind her.

They were seated in a corner of the common room, bent over a paper of some kind. "What's wrong?" She asked as she sat down across from them. Fred nudged his head towards the piece of parchment in front of them. Looking at it, she didn't notice anything extraordinary. "I'm staring at a piece of parchment." She looked at them blankly.

"Why am I staring at a piece of parchment?"

"There were words on it, just a minute ago. But they disappeared." George said, eyes wide.

"Tried poking it with a wand?" Gabrielle suggested, earning a shove from Fred.

"This is serious."

"And yes, we tried." George added.

First, she thought they were messing with her, but after few minutes they really looked distraught because of it. Frowning, she twisted the paper around in her hands. It was old, had a few stains on it, no words.

"What did it say?"

"Something like; Misters Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, are proud to present the Marauders map."


End file.
